DragonForce Showcased at Urban Shield 2013

Submitted by Mike Mitkus

November, 2013 - Drakontas’ DragonForce team collaboration technology played a central role at Urban Shield

DragonForce, Drakontas’ team collaboration software, was selected as the embedded technology for the active shooter scenario in this year’s Urban Shield program. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) hosted the 48 hour endurance competition and training exercise, and more than 30 Bay Area UASI Region SWAT teams utilized DragonForce during one of the 36 event scenarios designed to challenge participating teams. DragonForce is a command and control, team collaboration app that runs on iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones and web browsers.

DragonForce features include: personnel tracking on maps, collaborative whiteboarding on floor plans and images, group-based text messaging, situation reports, file sharing and after-action reporting. The software was utilized in an active shooter scenario taking place at the Castro Valley Elementary School. Each team received a tactical briefing, and was provided an aerial map of the campus, floor plans of the school buildings and mugshots of the four reported active shooters as part of the DragonForce electronic “mission package.” Each team was given two Panasonic B1 rugged tablets equipped with DragonForce; teams used the software for real-time tracking of the SWAT team personnel, and created tactical plans in real-time as they engaged the suspects. “This was our first time at Urban Shield, and it exceeded our expectations on many levels,” reported James Sim, Drakontas’ President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Sim conducted each of the mission briefings during the 48 hour competition, and had only 60 seconds to brief and train the teams before they engaged. “Each team reported that DragonForce provided easy access to the information elements, and that the shared situational awareness tools included in DragonForce helped orient them and allowed them to make faster decisions in a very intense scenario.”

This kind of mission testing and user interaction is a key factor in Drakontas’ success, according to Sim. “We received excellent feedback on how we can continue to improve DragonForce. These are the kinds of things you can only learn by embedding with professionals in realistic training scenarios.” DragonForce is designed for day-to-day operations, as well as for tactical and emergency events such as those transpiring in the Urban Shield exercise and, on a per-user basis, costs less than a typical text messaging plan.

About Drakontas LLC

Drakontas, headquartered in Glenside PA, develops mobile collaboration software designed to help public safety professionals share information more rapidly and more accurately. The company was founded in partnership with Drexel University in 2004 to transition technologies developed at the Applied Communications and Information Networking (ACIN) Center for the Department of Defense to commercial, civilian and homeland security uses.